The Human Enhancement Project
by Rigardo
Summary: Asuka takes an apparently simple murder case, however she sees herself get dragged into something she can't even begin to understand. SEELE and a quiet girl named Rei... Everything seemed to be connected to that name, Shinji Ikari. AU AsukaxShinji
1. Shinji Ikari

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion.

**Chapter 01**

**Shinji Ikari**

-BEEP-BEEP-

The alarm clock beeped with all its might filling the luxurious apartment with noise, but its high-pitched frequency soon came to a stop as a fist came crashing down on the damned thing silencing it immediately.

Yawning the woman got up and looked at her amazingly huge bed; two male 'friends' were still out cold and very much naked, of course she had no right to talk, all she had on were her pink panties... The redhead wanted to wake them up and throw them out as fast as possible but she decided against it. It was time to get ready for work so she left the two lumps of muscle in bed and went to take a shower.

Once inside the rather expensive looking bathroom she removed the only piece of clothing she had on and looked at her slender figure in the mirror. She was magnificent, capable of making even the most beautiful Hollywood stars jealous, that was what she thought and no doubt she was right.

It didn't take her long to finish showering, and now it was time for her to go through her morning routine.

Entering her room she found... Whatever their names were talking to each other about how awesome last night had been, but they stopped once they saw the redhead.

"Asuka-cha-" the first man with raven hair and green eyes was cut off before he could get too friendly with her.

"Grab your clothes and leave, I have to go to work." the pair was probably used to this, so instead of yelling about how cold she was and how they didn't mean anything to her like most guys did they just left quietly.

It was easier when they only wanted some fun, that way Asuka didn't waste time throwing them out. She was already used to arguing with men in the morning so in the end it didn't really matter to her.

Quickly putting on her glasses and her red suit the Red Devil was ready for a day of work.

xxx

The drive to the attorney's office was worse than hell, she lived near the place but some moron smashed his car against some other moron who was too slow to dodge it, and then she nearly ran over some dumb brats. Though her driving skills weren't really all that great, after all, she was taught by Misato... Either way she was late thanks to two idiots and some brats.

The district's attorney office was impressive, and Asuka was very proud of being a prosecutor. There was no other living soul with a 100 percent win ratio, specially no one so young, she was only 26 and she was already a legend.

Life was good, the redhead was successful and beautiful. There was no one who could surpass her in the court of law and even the most feared criminals were afraid of the Red Devil. She didn't particularly like the nickname but since that ape Toji called her that in the defendants lobby it became her official nickname.

The one thing she admitted to have trouble with was her romantic life. There was not a man alive worthy of her love, so instead of looking for the 'perfect man' like most dumb women did she simply enjoyed the company of handsome men every night. So in a way, the redhead couldn't really say she had troubles with her romantic life, she simply chose not to try.

Dragging her sleepy self to the elevator she quietly waited for the doors to open, Asuka always wished that those sardine cans moved faster! But once the elevator finally arrived and she took a look inside the German found herself wishing for the metal box to disappear.

"Red-chan! I was just looking for ya." standing inside the elevator the ape commonly known as Toji was wearing his usual barf green suit and grinning at her.

The last person she wanted to see... Ever! Was looking for her, it was always a nightmare when she got paired up with the imbecile, he lost evidences, hardly tried to get the job done... He was probably the worst inspector she had ever met. She simply hated the guy. Asuka always wondered how such a dumb ape managed to get a great girl like Hikari.

"What the hell do you want Toji? And it's Red-sama for you!" she growled at him trying to end the conversation as soon as possible.

"Aw are you cranky? Probably still hurting in the crotch area." the inspector smirked, whenever they got into a fight, basically every time they saw each other, he always aimed at her one weakness "I guess sleeping with half the country can do that to ya."

"Quit screwing around and tell me why you're here instead wasting my valuable time." Toji stopped smirking like an idiot and got all serious, probably trying to look important, or at least that was what she thought.

"We got a case yo. I didn't want to have you tag with me but apparently it's orders from above they want you in this case." he grabbed a file from his case and handed it to Asuka, but the girl just gave it back without looking "Murder, the victim is a big-shot called Fuyutsuki, found dead in his office with a stab wound."

The elevator stopped on the 17th floor and both of them dashed through the busy corridor until they reached Asuka's office. The inspector continued to explain the situation as they walked.

"We later found an unconscious woman with a dagger and blood all over her. We tested the blood and it was a match with the murder victim." he paused while Asuka opened the door to her office, once inside the ape gasped, he had never been in there before.

She bought everything for the place herself, including the furniture, it was beautiful, everything looked expensive, even the desk lamp. She could see the inspector that hardly made more than a few hundred dollars a month scowl and deep down she felt pleased.

"Anyways... We IDed the woman, her name is Rei Ayanami, no criminal record, a law abiding citizen it seems." he continued to examine the luxurious office while scratching the back of his head "'Regular case' I thought, but then I got the orders to team up with ya and wrap this up as fast as possible."

"I see. So you seem to have everything I need to win, this should be easy! Let us end this fast so I don't have to stand your presence any longer shall we?" she grabbed her suitcase that was near her desk and got up "Give me the file and let me talk to this girl of yours."

"Seriously? You just got here." he protested, apparently this was the first time the ape was out of the jungle, he seemed to meet her couch and they were already friends "I mean, shouldn't we discuss the case first?

"No. Now lets go! Let me grab my car key-" Asuka was cut off by the panicking man.

"NO! Last time you drove you nearly killed us both! I still think I should have given you a ticket!"

xxx

"I really hate your car ape boy." she protested "If it was any smaller you'd have to shrink to fit in there!"

"Quit whining and get in there! Now focus on this, she hasn't said a word since she got here so no lawyer, please end this so I can get rid of ya." pointing at the interrogation room Toji waved her off.

_'Damn animal... Now let me finish this quickly so I can get rid of this idiot.'_

She entered the rather large interrogation room, there was a chair and a large round table, a not so common looking interrogation room, but still who cared? With some luck she would be out of there in a matter of minutes.

"Alright miss... Ayanami is it?"

"..." the only response was silence, the girl looked like a doll, she was truly beautiful maybe even more so than Asuka herself and the redhead didn't like that. She really looked like an emotionless doll, and Asuka already knew she would enjoy putting her in jail.

"Yes well, you're being charged with the murder of Kohzo Fuyutsuki... It doesn't look good for you, it'd be best if you just confessed. There isn't a lawyer alive that can get you out of this mess, I however, can make you a deal, if you plead guilty and give me a confession I can reduce-" Asuka stopped talking as the girl for the first time since she entered the room spoke.

"S... Shinji-kun will help me." her angelical voice reached the redhead's ears and Asuka couldn't help but giggle.

"Shinji? Who's that? Some 3rd rate lawyer? I'm sorry to say this but I will win." Asuka smiled coldly at the albino "So you better take my generous offer unless you want me to destroy you in court."

Asuka was enjoying her superiority over the beautiful albino when the door opened and Toji signaled her to follow him. He should know by now that she didn't like being interrupted...

"What is it couldn't you see I was busy?" she growled at Toji who was looking less challenging than usual "What?"

"I just got a call, we are to wait for an agent of SEELE to come and interrogate the witness with us..."

SEELE, Japan's secret services, they were never involved in regular murder cases, what was it with their sudden interest? They only got involved when there was a threat to national security... And this doll didn't look like a threat at all...

xxx

"It has been a while Asuka-chan."

_'This has to be a joke!'_ she thought as the familiar man smiled at her, Kaji was his name, a worthless man and Asuka's first and only 'real' boyfriend. The man was wearing a black suit and black sunglasses, he almost looked like those fancy CIA agents she saw on the movies.

"Asuka-chan? You really did sleep with half of the country!" Toji was about to go on one of his speeches but he stopped when Asuka threw him a look that said 'Shut your mouth or I'll rip your guts out!'

"So explain why SEELE wants to interrogate a simple murder suspect." she was using all of her strengths to stop herself from beating the hell out of the playboy "I want to finish this fast so I don't have to deal with you or ape boy."

"Oh feisty! You haven't changed a bit." Kaji saw the death glare Asuka used so often "Right! One name, Shinji Ikari."

"Shinji Ikari? Who's that?" he asked the redhead.

"Don't know, but that girl said that name... Shinji, something about him helping her." she shifted her gaze back to the scruffy man "Who is he?"

"Sorry cupcakes, confidential. All I can say is that he is an extremely dangerous man, everyone involved with the Ayanami case is in extreme danger." he looked at the albino who was looking as stoic as ever "SEELE needs to find him, we'd like to get to know him better."

_'Know him better... Meaning they don't want to arrest him...'_

"This is still my case, I'm not letting you take over!" she growled at Kaji trying to intimidate him.

"I know, I don't care about Ayanami she's just a pawn, what I want is Ikari's location." he smiled at the redhead "Besides I can spend some quality time wi-"

"Back off or I'll kill you." she threatened him.

Whoever this Shinji Ikari character was he wasn't just some ordinary person, SEELE wasn't known for 'talking' with their targets, they wanted something from him what it was she didn't know... SEELE and the mystery girl, they were all connected to that name.

_'Who are you Shinji Ikari...?'_ she thought looking at the blue haired beauty.

xxx

Outside the airport a young man watched the the streets, they were filled with busy people making noise... Just as he remembered it, Tokyo 3 hadn't changed one bit, still the same beautiful city he knew when he was a boy.

"It has been a while hasn't it?" smiling softly at no one in particular the young man grabbed his bags and disappeared in the middle of the crowd.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **This was an idea that just came to me out of nowhere. Seriously, nowhere! Although I am hoping it was enjoyable to read.

My first try writing an AU story, hope it came off alright, and I hope everyone liked the first chapter, I am not going to put all the cards on the table yet but I would like to know what you think of this, so don't forget to leave a review.

And a big thank you to Claymore Intimate Persona for the inspiration!


	2. Classified

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion.

**Chapter 02**

**Classified**

She continued to stare blankly at the albino, with the new information she received from Kaji that seemingly easy case turned into a great headache. Shinji Ikari... That damned name turned the whole thing upside down, now she just wrapping things up and leaving seemed like just a dream, she had to play around with the case until Kaji decided he had enough information on the guy.

_'I guess if I have to play along I'll just speed things up by doing Kaji's damn work for him. I need to start digging about this Ikari character... I'll have to talk to her.' _the redhead adjusted her glasses and continued her train of thought _'Until then I'll see how Kaji wants to play this little game of his.'_

"Asuka-chan, I want a chance to interrogate her myself," suddenly the agent spoke up, however Asuka felt insulted by his suggestion that he could do better than her and she made that clear when she glared at him "Come on, I bet my miracle charm is all we need to loosen her tongue."

Toji snorted and she almost felt like doing the same, it was clear this girl wasn't going to melt over him like most women did... But why not let him try? Even if it's just to see him fail, if he was going to waste her time she might as well was his too.

"Sure why not." she opened the door to let Kaji inside the interrogation room "Good luck."

"You're just trying to waste his time aren't you?" Asuka nodded without hesitation making the inspector sigh "You can be pretty childish Red..."

xxx

Shinji slowly made his way through to the rundown building Rei Ayanami seemed to like calling 'home'. It was still a mystery to him why she chose to live in that dump... Whatever the reason Shinji didn't like it, and he had told her that in several different occasions.

As the young man made his way up the stairs he found that the door was unlocked.

_'Robbers? Assassins? SEELE? ... Clumsiness...?'_ as he entered the house two masked individuals appeared in front of him one started yelling all kinds of curses and telling him not to move.

The loud one making insults was small but still quite threatening, mostly because he had a baseball bat... The other one was simply large. _'Robbers...'_

"... YA HEARING ME? Don' Move Or We'll Break Yer Legs Boy!" That was quite frankly insulting... Boy? Really? Did he look like a teenager or something? He didn't think so, but still... "Ya Goddamn Listenin Prick?"

"Screw it just hit him over the head!" the other less noisy man said catching Shinji's attention "This place is a goddamn dump we might as well check if he's carrying anythin of value."

Before he could even speak in his defense, the man wielding the baseball bat tried to hit him, clumsily swinging the bat with one hand. Shinji dodged it easily. "My apologies but..." as the man came around for a second swing at him Shinji grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm around his back with so much force the three individuals inside the rundown apartment heard it snap like a twig under the pressure. "I'm rather busy."

"AAAAAAGGH!" the smaller robber yelled probably waking up half of the building... or at least the half that was inhabited.

"YA LITTLE FU-" the second robber hardly had time to curse the mystery man. Shinji ducked put one of his hands on the floor and made an impressive leg sweep bringing the rather large man down. Not giving the thug any time to recover Shinji connected his fist with the robber's face rather violently effectively knocking him out and completely shattering his nose.

Shinji got up dusted off his hands and resumed his examining of the apartment.

"W-who... the hell are you?" the robber with the broken arm asked flabbergasted at what had just happened but received only a serene smile in return, so he grabbed his friend with his good arm ignoring the growing pain and ran off as fast as he could. Whoever that kid was he wasn't normal.

_'Rei...'_

xxx

"So can you explain to me again why you're here?" Asuka was looking about to explode "Because I don't think I got it..."

Toji sighed loudly praying this hellish day would end, why did he have to put up with Asuka and her childhood boyfriend? The three of them were now struggling to find some space in his car, the thing was small as it was and it was only meant to carry two individuals...

"Well... I'm going to-" Kaji grabbed a handful of chips and crammed them in his mouth, and started talking but Toji cut him off.

"Hey don't get crumbs in there dammit! Where the hell did you get those anyways?" Toji yelled angrily.

"Quit whining about insignificant things." the two men were about to start a war but Asuka gave them both a death glare that made them think twice about irritating the Red Devil in such a small place.

"L-like I was saying, she isn't going to talk so I'm going to wait, and since I have nothing to do I decided to spend some quality time observing your work." he said proudly stuffing his mouth with another handful of chips.

"So let me get this straight, you couldn't 'charm her' so now you do nothing?" Toji asked clearly annoyed at Kaji for the mess he was making while eating his damned chips. "That sounds like it's going to be sooooooo effective Mister SEELE."

"At least I work for SEELE!" Asuka slammed her hand against her forehead in frustration, it was like she was sent to elementary school and got stuck with the two most obnoxious kids "Besides, Ikari is going to show himself sooner or later."

"Why are you so sure he will?" Asuka asked trying to keep her sanity in the middle of those two. "And how are you going to know if he showed himself if you're with us?"

"Trust me he will..." Kaji stated full of confidence "And when he makes his move we'll know..."

Toji sighed loudly once again. _'It will be hard to clean up all those crumbs...'_

xxx

"I'm going home for today see you tomorrow." after dropping Kaji off at a gas station as he requested Toji took Asuka back to the Attorney's Office "Make sure you can walk tomorrow kays?"

"Goddammit Toji you know I don't date during cases!" Toji looked at her almost as is saying 'You date?' and headed off before Asuka could put a dent on his car "Ape..."

She made her way past the lobby until she reached the elevator and waiting patiently until it took her to the 17th floor, she wasn't going to just help Kaji like that without knowing what hell she was getting herself into. Thankfully she had many, many contacts, including someone important inside SEELE...

Asuka walked past Hikari's office and noted she was already off _'Guess she has to cook dinner for ape boy otherwise he'll starve to death...'_ giggling at her own joke she went to her office. As soon as she entered she grabbed the phone and started dialing a number furiously.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Hello?" a sweet voice came from the other side of the line "Who is this?"

"Hi Maya! It's been a while hasn't it?" Asuka answered politely but since she got no response she continued "Listen... I kind of need a favor..."

"You only seem to call when you need something Asuka... Can't you just call to say 'Hey it's me Asuka, how have you been? Any luck with the boys?'... It's always about calling in favors!" Maya was quite timid but once someone got to know her she was really sweet and talkative. Unfortunately Asuka lacked the patience to hear someone talk about their lives for more than five minutes "So what do you need from SEELE's information service today?"

"Thanks Maya I knew you would come through for me!" Asuka raised her fist in victory and smiled at the ever so helpful Maya Ibuki "I need info on someone named Ikari, first name Shinji."

"Hold on I'll see what I can dig up." there were a few minutes of silent taping on the keyboard and then simply silence.

"Hmmm... Maya?"

"Okay, who exactly is this guy?" Asuka examined her office silently waiting for more details than just an interrogation "It's all classified! I can't even pull up a picture of him let alone a file or a single word... Officially he exists, but it's Top SS security clearance material, only the Director of SEELE and a few others have access to this guy's file..."

"You're saying you can't get me anything?" Asuka was truly shocked Maya had high clearance, that was why she chose her to be her contact, how could she not have access to a single file? The SEELE tech had even pulled secret information on some Yakuza operations some years ago...

"I'm saying that this is beyond bizarre, I think I set off thirty different alarms just by searching his name... I don't know what the hell you're getting yourself into Asuka but if I were you I'd let this one slip... I gotta go."

"What the hell is going on here?" Asuka mumbled irritated.

She grabbed her briefcase threw some papers inside. Asuka greeted her teeth, she would go home for the night, she needed to calm down, there was only one other information source more reliable and influential than Maya... But god she did not want to ask that person a favor.

xxx

Still yawning the redheaded beauty made her way to the office. It was going to be a busy day... She had no other case currently but the one case she had was getting stranger by the second. She wasn't an inspector but this case definitely deserved to be investigated.

"Hey Red-chan I got you some coffee." Toji entered her office and sat down at his favorite couch looking drowsy "SEELE is nowhere to be seen it's like your boyfriend dropped off the face of the earth."

"Shut it Ape... He's probably out of the country looking for this Ikari guy." she took a sip of the warm coffee.

"Out of the country? But he's SEELE... National-"

"Oh please! Everyone knows SEELE still operates in several other countries they just signed that exclusivity contract for show." Asuka snorted "SEELE, they deal with our security problems and work in direct contact with the government but they are still a private company even if they won't admit it. Originally they were a paramilitary organization but after Second Impact Japan made the decision to 'buy' a company to do what they failed to do during Second Impact..."

"I think you should have more faith in them, they've been doing a pretty good job." Toji said looking almost as sleepy as the prosecutor.

"Sure, but they still do what they want when they want and that just pisses me off..." she glanced at the clock and waved him off "Anyway history class if over I have to go meet someone."

"But-" Toji protested but Asuka just pushed the inspector out of her office.

_'I'll find out about you for sure this time...'_

* * *

**Author's Notes:** So short chapter again...

I put in some action in this, just something to give you an idea of how Shinji is going to be way different than the Anime. But I guess AU gives me the right to make all of these changes without getting stoned to death... Or so I hope.

So I am sick at the moment and have been for a few weeks and I need my rest. Anyways, thank you all who left me super reviews, I hope this chapter is to everyone's liking.

Thanks to the OST of Mass Effect 1 & 2 for the inspiration.


	3. Preparations

Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion.

**Chapter 03**

**Preparations**

Shinji opened his eyes slowly and yawned loudly.

_'Unfamiliar...'_ he thought as his eyes scanned the old-looking ceiling. He had spent the night at Rei's house, it wasn't like him to just do something like that, specially when it was her house. But he couldn't check into a big fancy hotel. Not even a cheap motel would work... This was Japan, and he knew he would be tracked down to some place where he didn't have a plan if he used any of his trademark tricks.

Shinji took a quick shower and quickly got dressed while he mumbled annoyed at the lack of hot water. He wore a long-sleeved white button-up shirt with dark slacks and white tennis. Sure, he didn't look like anything special, no one would look twice at him, he would probably pass as an university student.

The young man grabbed a pendant and opened it. Inside were two pictures; one of an albino girl with crimson eyes, no older than 10 and a picture of a woman in her thirties with brown hair looking at him with kind eyes. He smiled at it and put it in his pocket.

He took a quick look at the mirror while rolling his sleeves up and nodded to himself. Leaving the tiny bathroom Shinji picked up his cellphone and dialed a number. A few seconds later it connected and Shinji heard a slurred voice coming from the other end.

"Heeey! T-This is Kensuka! I-I mean, Kensuke..." Shinji held the small device next to his ear with his shoulder while he quietly strapped on his watch "State your business..." finished putting on his trusty wristwatch Shinji now frowned at his phone.

"Are you done?" his voice was dead serious, Ken had chosen a lousy time to get drunk out of his mind and Shinji wasn't making a friendly call. If the hacker proved useless Shinji would just hang up. Fortunately the man on the other side of the line noticed the seriousness in Shinji's voice and seemed more sober, or less drunk in this case.

"Shin? Is... Is that you, man?" Shinji didn't answer, Ken already figured it out and to be honest Shinji wasn't entirely sure that this call was safe, even someone like Kensuke Aida could have his phone bugged "Oh man... I-I thought I lost you back in Italy!"

He continued to wait in silence while Ken sounded truly happy. It wasn't like they were best friends, but after all the times they worked together there was clearly a business friendship somewhere in there.

"I trust you're sober enough to pull some files for me without being caught?" he looked out the window trying to spot any suspicious movement or cars that passed by the apartment more than once.

"What The Hell Man!" Shinji's attention was brought back to his phone by Kensuke's outburst "Two goddamn years! That's how long I thought you were buried in some shallow grave back in Italy! And now, when you finally call, you just want to ask for something?"

"I am not at liberty to make social calls. You better than most should know that." there was a moment of silence by both parts and eventually Shinji decided he gave enough time for Ken to digest the information "About those files..."

"..." when he was greeted only by silence Shinji had to wonder if Kensuke was going to be of any help this time around. Fortunately the heavy drinker never was one to hold grudges "I... Can't tell you how happy I am to hear from you again Shin... So what can I do for you?"

"I want you to get everything on the Ayanami case and on the lead prosecutor," taking a final peek outside Shinji found himself satisfied with the security of Rei's home and decided to make some coffee, assuming there was a working coffee machine in the decrepit apartment "Also, keep an eye on my SEELE files, I have a feeling someone might start digging."

"It's been a while since I infiltrated SEELE's information network, they may have upped their security..." Kensuke said sounding more afraid to test his skills than usual.

To hack SEELE was a heavy risk, they kept everything in a secret server hidden from the Japanese Government in an 'information branch' and to top it all off he was certain that his files along with the Enhancement project were all classified.

"But I guess I can pull it off if it means that much to you." Shinji smiled at the broken coffee machine _'I should have guessed... Nothing works in this damned apartment.'_ the machine might be a goner but at least he could still count on Ken. "Anyways, what's with the sudden interest in the murder of that bastard?"

By 'that bastard' Kensuke meant Fuyutsuki, of course. A big shot in the business world and one of the secret investors of SEELE.

SEELE was, to a regular Japanese citizen, their greatest force. A former mercenary agency who cut a deal with Japan after Second Impact. It was unusual, to say the least, for a country to hire a foreigner agency to deal with secret national security problem, but after Japan's secret services proved corrupt and useless for the umpteenth time, leading to Second Impact, they turned to a new 'ally', one that would never betray them as long as they kept paying... SEELE.

This choice met resistance at first, as expected.

People felt unsafe with an organization such as SEELE having unlimited access to their countries' greatest secrets. But after several brilliant arrests and after stopping a few terrorist attacks the people's heart was won. Little did they know that it was in fact SEELE who created the second nuclear blast that hit on Japan... The very thing that pushed the Government into hiring the foreign agency.

More specifically it was Fuyutsuki who made it happen...

"It's my business," Shinji could hear the hacker sigh but ignored it "While you're at it cough me up a new ID."

"I'm not a cat I can't 'cough up' a fake ID like a fur ball..." Kensuke protested still sounding relatively drunk "Anyways! Got something in mind? What do you wanna be?"

Shinji let a small smirk out. If everything went according to plan he wouldn't have to stay in Japan for much longer.

xxx

"And you're sure you have his location?" a young man with silver hair and crimson eyes asked while he sat behind his desk inside his dark, cavernous office. He was wearing a black business suit with a white button-up shirt and a loose red tie.

"I'm sure!" Kaji replied firmly "It was sheer luck that someone tried to rob Ayanami's house... If we left one of our agents there Ikari would have located them immediately and wouldn't go near the place again."

"Oh? That is so unlike Shinji-kun! I hope, for your sake, that you're right and Shinji-kun made a small mistake." the young man answered with a smile. For some reason Kaji felt like it was more a warning than a threat but decided to ignore it.

"Well then, good luck, Kaji-kun... Don't overdo it... After all, Shinji-kun is on a league of his own. Nothing you could ever dream to match." Kaworu said with a small grin.

Kaji felt his eye twitch, it was a mystery to him if he was being mocked or if it was the young director's way of telling him to be careful... Either way Kaji hated to have Ikari being praised when he was supposed to be catching the damn guy! Granted he failed repeatedly at tracking down and catching Ikari but still...

"While you do your little 'thingy' I have one Maya Ibuki to talk to," Kaji raised an eyebrow. As the memory of a cute little computer tech passed through his mind "Apparently we have ourselves a leak in the information branch..."

"What did she do to deserve an interrogation from you?" the agent asked now genuinely curious. It wasn't everyday that the director of SEELE went down to the information branch to nag some techie.

"It might actually interest you to know that she was digging around about a certain Shinji-kun..." the silver haired man said smiling warmly "You know I'm always interested in hearing news about him."

"What? Why wasn't I notified? I'm the one in charge of his capture!" Kaji raised his voice now annoyed at how little information he was given. However the silver haired man just continued to smile.

"Kaji-kun... I don't think Shinji-kun would want to access his own file, and even if he did he wouldn't ask some low clearance tech girl to do it for him..." Kaworu said matter-of-factually "You'll have to think things through if you want to catch Shinji-kun. I told you haven't I? He's on a league of his own."

Kaji glared at his superior but finally admitted defeat. Kaworu had a point, Ikari wouldn't make such a mistake.

"Well then, off you go."

xxx

It had been a while since she left her office and Toji behind. She had gotten lost a few times and even saw a cop looking at her like he wanted to pass her a ticket... If she couldn't figure out who this Ikari guy was this time she would just give up! She was curious yes, but she wasn't about to waste any more time on this subject just to annoy Mr. Super Agent.

She reached for the bell and waited for an answer.

"Hello, hello?" a cheery voice came from the other side "Is that you Hiro?" the prosecutor raised an eyebrow figuring it must be her lover.

"No it's Asuka-chan... Who the hell is Hiro?" she asked mockingly "I thought you were seeing that Aoba guy..."

For a moment there were several sounds coming from the inside of the apartment, and Asuka figured the woman had the place filthy again. Seconds later the door burst open and a purple haired woman wearing bright yellow pajamas jumped outside trapping the prosecutor in a tight hug.

"Asuka-chan! It's so nice to have you pay me a visit." the older woman said grinning widely "Wait a second... You don't do social visits. Ever! What gives?"

Asuka sighed, thankfully Misato never sulked when she dropped by for information. It wasn't like the redhead disliked Misato she simply didn't do social visits to... Well, anyone. And it was always a pain to deal with someone so cheery.

"Sorry to get your hopes up but I need a favor." Misato seemed to lose her smile for a second, but in a blink of an eye she was smiling again.

"I see... Well it's still great to have you around. It's not everyday my little Asuka-chan comes to visit!" Asuka cringed at Misato's remark, true she was 'Misato's little Asuka-chan' but it wasn't something she wanted the older woman to yell at the top of her lungs like a jackass.

When Asuka was ten her parents were involved in a car accident and lost their lives. Misato who was a close friend of the family stepped up and offered herself to take care of the little redhead. Since Misato was legally an adult of 22 years old she managed to fight for the little girl's custody and win.

Unfortunately one of the things that came with being Misato's step-daughter was being called her little Asuka-chan. Not that Asuka didn't like the attention the purple haired woman sprayed all over her, she just disliked having Misato calling her little when she was clearly an adult.

"Cut it out! It's not like I'm a kid anymore..." she argued embarrassed.

"Oh but you loved when I called you that back when you were little!" Misato said cocking her head to the right "Well what are you waiting for? Come on in!"

Asuka entered the apartment and saw the usual mess. Bags of groceries on the floor filled with empty beer cans and ramen bowls. It wouldn't be so bad if there were only a few beer cans, the problem was that if they were to pick them all up Asuka was sure they could build a small fort with them.

"Still the same I see..." Asuka mumbled trying to avoid stepping on one of the cans.

"Don't be such a drama queen," Misato argued puffing her cheeks "You didn't care when you were little! We used to play around and make 'can cities' remember?"

"Yeah that was fun... Thankfully you never got drunk when you were with me..." Asuka shivered at the thought of what might have happened if a drunk-out-of-her-mind-Misato tried to take care of a child Asuka.

The purple haired woman took a sit at her table and grabbed a can of beer.

"So, what do you need from mommy?" Misato teased.

"Do you happen to know someone in SEELE with top clearance?" the prosecutor asked hoping to finally get some answers. She couldn't find a thing in the police database and even her informer at SEELE proved useless. _'Third time's the charm, right?'_

"Don't insult me Asuka-chan, of course I know someone with top clearance!" Misato answered proudly "What do you want to know?"

"Really? Yes!" Asuka yelled. Finally luck smiled at her "I need the file on one Ikari, Shinji."

"No problemo! Just give me a sec."

Asuka smiled at her foster mother. If anything she would finally find out what was with all the hype about this Ikari character. That doll seemed to think he could help her, yet he wasn't a lawyer. Kaji shuddered at the mention of his name, yet he wasn't a known criminal running from the law. Whatever mystery surrounded that guy she would finally uncover the truth. If not for the sake of her case, for the sake of her curiosity.

xxx

Kaworu sighed lightly after entering a conference room _'So Miss Soryu wants to know why the name Ikari is mixed in one of her cases..._' he thought. The interrogation of Miss Ibuki went well, she wasn't some kind of spy, so naturally she spilled the beans as soon as Kaworu dropped by to ask some questions.

The lights were suddenly extinguished and several holographic shadows appeared in a circle, each in an holographic seat. There were quite a few sits but there was only one vacant _'Poor, poor Fuyutsuki...'_ Kaworu thought.

"Nagisa! How's you manhunt coming along?" one of the shadows asked.

"All in its time my dear friend," Kaworu answered smiling brightly "You can't just catch someone like Shinji-kun, he's nowhere near as stupid as a common genius."

"Don't make fun of us Boy! We sacrificed that idealistic moron for this," a second shadow growled gaining several nods from the other men supporting him "Idealistic might he be, Fuyutsuki supported us with large amounts of funding, funds you will not see for a while!"

He frowned at the shadows who seemed to be in cahoots about Fuyutsuki's 'early retirement'.

"May I remind you gentlemen," the albino said in a low and cold voice "That you all voted in favor of this plan?"

The shadowy figures seemed to mumble some inaudible arguments and eventually the room returned to silence.

"I have a great agent handling the search for Shinji-kun," Kaworu said, his usual warm smile returning to his face "He'll deal with it, just give him time."

"I hope you know what you are doing child, the Human Enhancement Project as been delayed for long enough. It's time we finally see our long years of financial support and plans give us what we want." another figure stated calmly.

Without warning the connection was cut and all of the holographic shadows disappeared leaving the albino alone in the large empty room.

Kaworu grinned. Sure, he had a great agent on it, but someone like Kaji would never be able to deal with Shinji. When he said that a genius was a moron compared to Shinji he wasn't making fun of the gentlemen in the conference room. Shinji was a genius, specially in the battlefield _'Wait for me Shinji-kun... We'll meet again soon enough.'_

xxx

She kept on petting Penpen, the small beagle that lived with Misato since Asuka left home, while the purple haired woman was on the phone with someone.

"Yes, yes I'd love to!" Misato said cheerfully while making a sour face. Asuka couldn't help but giggle at the way Misato was tricking the poor guy on the phone "So... Could you send me those files I asked for? Pretty please?"

She watched as the woman turned around and gave her the thumbs up, making Asuka throw a fist up in victory.

"Alright... Okay, bye-bye!" the lilac haired woman tossed the phone into the couch and made a sour face "Okay never say I don't love you... I had to set up a date with a guy that looks uglier than a dog." The little beagle looked up and Misato bowed her head in apologies "Sorry Penpen, you're a million times cuter than that gorilla-faced man!"

"Alright, alright I get it! Thanks Misato... Now can we check the files please?" the prosecutor asked excitedly like a small child.

"Aww you're welcome Asuka-chan!" the older woman teased while she reached for her laptop "Now let's see what's the big mystery behind Mr. Shinji Ikari!"

She watched as Misato turned on her laptop seeming as excited as Asuka herself. After a while Misato finally opened her mail and saw a mail marked as confidential "There it is, quick open it!"

Accepting Asuka's request Misato opened the mail and started reading through it.

"Wow... What in god's name are you getting yourself into Asuka...?" Misato's former cheerful demeanor disappeared and she was looking very concerned at Asuka.

"..." Asuka stared at the screen of the laptop reading the files over and over again, although there were some blacked out parts the files were still enough to understand what kind of person Ikari was.

She searched for a picture. But there was no image file that could help her put a face on the person she was reading about.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Oh look! New chapter! I is alive! Mwhahaha!

So in this chapter I decided to make something useful with my notes and put here stuff I couldn't explain clearly in the story, think of it as a little help. It's hard to put this in the story without feeling like the characters are introducing themselves randomly.

Asuka Soryu: Age 25  
Rei Ayanami: Age 23  
Shinji Ikari: Age -/- (Unknown! Mwhahaha! I want to use this further on.)  
Misato Katsuragi: Age: 37  
Kaji: Age 28  
Kaworu Nagisa: Age 23

That's about it for now I guess...

Not much going on here... Well, next chapter things should get a little more interesting.

So again, thank you all for the awesome reviews and support! And a big thanks to all the OSTs of Katekyo Hitman Reborn for the inspiration.


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